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wordpress subscriber vs buddypress member

A WordPress Subscriber: http://codex.wordpress.org/Roles_and_Capabilities#Subscriber

A BuddyPress Member: http://codex.buddypress.org/getting-started/group-settings-and-roles/

How do the 2 compare/contrast?

The WP Codex doesn't mention BP roles.
The BP Codex doesn't specifically mention WP Subscribers.

The BP Codex (the way I read it) seems to imply that a WP Subscriber who joins a group gets turned into a BP Member.

Discerning between these 2 roles is important because of specifying new user registration level (should it be Subscriber or Member?) and for setting permissions on WPMU DEV plugin Settings pages.

Here's how I have one site setup:
-a plugin makes all new user registrations members of a specified single BP group (called "Everyone" or something)
-but all the new users are registered as Subscribers, not Members (probably due to my WP/BP Dashboard settings).

Please help me master the differences and proper settings. :slight_smile:

  • Mattymar

    The term "member" in the case you are referring to is simply a member of a BP group. If someone joins your site as a "subscriber" and joins a BP group, then they are a member of the BP group but still a subscriber in terms of your site/network.

    If you have special roles attributed to "Members" on your wordpress account, being a member of a BP group does not make them "Members" of your overall account. They are separate things.

    When you see BP groups, just use the term "group member" in your head to help you distinguish between that and if, say, you were to have a special membership program. Hope that helps a bit.

  • 3SixtyEvolve

    Hi Clifford

    I think first of all it's important to look at the differences between WordPress and BuddyPress, because that would indirectly answer your question regarding the difference between Wordpress Subscribers and BuddyPress Member. I would also like to take this question to WPMU.org and see if they can come up with a good article outlining the differences in roles.

    So for now this is what I've got:

    WordPress (as in WordPress dot org) is a standalone content management system and blogging platform. It is an excellent system for setting up a website, and it can be extended using plugins and themes to create and manage all kinds of different sites.

    BuddyPress is a plugin for WordPress that enables social networking-type functionality on a WordPress-based site and turns a WordPress Blog into a membership site. Subscribers can create profiles, submit and share content, etc. Where WPMU sites can be generally unrelated and on different topics entirely, BuddyPress profiles, as I understand them, have a more social-networking aspect to them.

    Which one is better? That would totally depend on your requirements. For the most part, WordPress by itself is sufficient for most applications. Sometimes BuddyPress is useful for building sites for community engagement. WPMU is REALLY handy for development work.

    One very good article that I always refer to when creating users is the below link, although, as you pointed out, there is no place where the roles between the WordPress and BuddyPress is explored - something that I would really like us to get into...

    http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2009/09/07/understanding-wordpress-user-roles/

    Thank you for your post. I hope that other members of the community will also add their opinions here so we can get more clarity to the specific roles. All the best! Gina

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